Automatic gas-feed for vacuum-tubes.



D. McF. MOORE. AUTOMATIC GAS FEED FOR VACUUM TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8,1906.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS vID. MoF. MOORE.

AUTOMATIG GAS FEED FOR VACUUM TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8,1906.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

8 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR panre// ILA/770011 BY s ATTORNEYS D. McF; MOORE. AUTOMATIC GAS FEED FOR VACUUM TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8,1906.

968,677, Patented Aug.30,1910.

SSHEETS-SHEET &

WITNESSES: l/VI/E/VTOR Z gzag: W I

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE.

DANIEL MCFARLAN MOORE, OF NEWARK, NE, JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 MOORE ELEC- TRICAL CQ, OF NEW YORK, N. -Y A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC GAS-FEED FOEB. VACUUM-TUBES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May s, 1906. Serial a... 315,728.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL MCFARLAN Moons, a citizen. of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, with post-ofiice address 52 Lawrence street, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gas-Feed for Vacuum-Tubes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of devicestermed vacuum tubes and which are passage of the electric energy and consists in an improved means for automatically supplying thegas or vapor of the vacuous spaces so as to maintain-the desired gas or vapor tension.

Briefly stated, my invention consists in the combination of a vacuum tube, a manometer connected with the vacuum and means controlled or o erated thereby for supplying gas to the tube.

Preferably, I supply the gas by admitting gasin regulated amount from a body of gas of greater tension than that in the tube and for this purpose employ some form of gas valve operated by a manometer.

As a preferred form of valve I use one opcrating by changes of liquid level, the liquid acting as a seal to shut or open the port or passage through which the gas may feed to the tube, but other forms '01 valve might be used without departing from my invention. The form shown is described in my prior Patent No. 820364, dated May 8th, 1906, and also in my prior Patent No. 855,801,,

dated June 4th, 1907.

The manometer employed may be either the form in which liquid is used and the tension of the gas or vapor measured by mercury in which the plug is shown. Whenthetip is uncovered, g g nay differences in the height of a liquid column, or may be of the aneroid type, that is to say, one in which no liquid 15 used and the pressure or tension is measured by an elastic metal disk or plate or any other form of vacuum pressure gage may be used.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a general side elevation and partial section of an apparatus embodying my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate modifications. Figs. 4 and 5 are other modifications showing a way in which the changes in the position ofthe parts of the vacuum gage or manometer. may be made effective in feeding gas to the tube. 'Fig. 6 shows another modification.

Fig. 7 shows my invention applied to feed" ing gas away from the tube.

Referring to Fig. 1, a vacuum tube is indicated at 1. The electrodes for supplying electric energy to the gaseous contents are indicated at 2 and are connected with any source of energy as well understood in the art.

The device shown is a form of vacuum tube lamp. The invention, as already stated is equally applicable to other forms or kind of vacuum tube.

3 is a feed tube through which. gas may be fed into tube 1 from any'source, and 4 is a valve chamber of any form in which a body of gas at any desired tension greater than that in the tube is maintained. The

in by hereinbefore mentioned patent applications and comprises essentially .a plug 10 of some porous material like gas carbon which fits into the end of the gas feed tube 3 and has a pointed ,terminal adapted to be covered and uncovered by variations in the level of a liquid v15 like pass slowly from the valve chamber 4 tothe tube 3 through the porous material. The changes of level are produced by suitable means operated by the manometer which is connected to the vacuous space in the tube 1. Such connection may be made by means of a tube 6 joined to tube 1 at any desired point. Tube 3 may feed into the tube 1 at one or more points as desired.

In Fig. 1, Tindicates a thin corrugated disk of a manometer, one side of said disk being exposed to the variations of gaseous tension in the tube 1 through the connection 6. Various ways of causing the movements of the diaphragm of the manometer to operate the valve may be employed.

In Fig. 1 the operation takes place through the action of an incompressible body ofliquid like mercury filling the chamber 8 and the tube 9 which connects chamber 8 with the chamber in which thebody of mercury 5 rises and falls. To secure a delicate action, the cross sectional area of the space in which the mercury 5 changes its level around the tip of the plug 10 may be ve small as compared with that of the b0 y of liquid which is in contact with the diaphragm 7.

-In the operation of the apparatus, a,

lessening of the gaseous tension in 1, owing to the operation of the electric currents upon the contained gas or va or, causes the dia; phragm 7 to move in a irection away from the body of liquid in chamber 8 and this causes the level of the liquid 5 to fall and permit a slight amount of gas to flow through feed tube 3 and restore the vacuum to its normal degree, whereupon the manometer resumes its normal position and the flow stops until a resumption of the action is required.

The manometer might operate the valve in the manner shown in Fig. 2 where the elastic disk or plate '7 is connected directly to a plunger 11 which works in the body of the liquid 5 and by rising, when the tension in the tube 1 decreases, will cause the level of the liquid 5 to fall and thus feed gas to the tube. V

The tension of the gas in the chamber 4: may be anythin desired above that in the tube 1 and may be maintained constantly at such pressure by a suitably adjusted pressure reducing valve interposed, for instance, in the connection from a tank or source of higher pressure which supplies the gas to the chamber 4 as described in prior applications for patent filed by me. Obviously, the pressure in said chamber may be very little greater than that in the tube, so that in the construction shown in Fig. 2, the differences of pressure on the two sides of the diaphragm will be at no time very great.

Moreover, as will be obvious, when a con eeaew .stant pressure is maintained by any means in the chamber 4 the device will not be subject to derangement of action by changes of barometric pressure.

In order to produce a multiplied movement of the valve through any movement of the disk, the plunger or liquid displacer may be made large in comparison with the chamber in which it works or any system of multiplying levers or any devices such as are known in the art for multiplying the movement of the portion of the manometer acted upon by the varying pressure may be employed so as to increase the movement of the device which controls the inlet or outlet for inflow or outflow of gas from the tube.

In Fig. 8 a manometer of the liquid form is shown. The tube 12 is connected by an elbow with the chamber in which the level of the liquid changes to open the valve and the liquid in 12 is exposed to the direct action of the gases in the tube 1. As will be obvious, the height of the column 12 will depend upon the gaseous tension in the tube 1.

In Fig. 4, another form of vacuum gage is shown. The tube 12 connects as before directly with the vacuous space and the variations of pressure are measured by the height of the column in the connected tube 18, whose upper end is sealed. The space at the upper end of the tube 13 above the liquid, which may be mercury, is a Torricellian vacuum. This form of manometer may be made of much less vertical dimension than that of Fig. 3. Its movements may be made effective upon the valve by causing the changes of level in 12 to open and close the circuit of any generator of electricity 14, said circuit including the coils of an electromagnet 15 having a core which works in an extension of the valve chamber 4 and is connected to a. plunger 11. In this device, the manometer or vacuum ga e closes the circuit of the magnet when t e gaseous tension in the tube 1 decreases, and the magnet, by lifting the plunger, opens the valve and allows gas to feed to the tube.

In the apparatus shown in Fig. 5, the

same action takes place, but the lower end of the tube 12, instead of connecting with a column of liquid having a Torricellian vacuum at its upper end, is simply sealed in a body of liquid contained in the chamber 16 exposed to the atmosphere. a form of manometer, Which, owing'to its large vertical dimensions, is not so Well suited to the purposes of my invention as some other forms.

In Fig. 6 the movements of the manometer are transferred to the valve through the intervention of a float which floats in a body of mercury or other liquid of the manometer and is connected, through mo- This is tion-multiplying devices. of any suitable character as shown, with the plunger 11 and in suchway as to open the valve and feed gas to the tube 1 when the tension of the gas therein falls. In case the action of the electric discharge in the tube causes the tension of the gas to increase, gas may be fed out of such tube instead of into it to maintain a constancy of gas tension within the tube, and a normal operation of said apparatus whether used for electric lighting or for any other purpose. Obviously, also the tension of the gas within the tube might be reater than that of the atmosphere andmaintained at such greater tension.

Fig. 7 illustrates one of the arrangements of manometer or pressure gage and valve that may be employed in this manner, it

being assumed that the pressure within the tube increases during the operation of the lamp, as would be the case with some forms or kinds of tube. In this case, the tube 3 may be connected directly with the atmosphere if the tension to be maintained in tube 1 is greater than that of the atmosphere, or when the tension in the tube 1 is less than that of the atmosphere, there should be maintained in tube 3 and its connections, a gaseous tension less than that of the atmosphere and less than the particular de ree of tension or pressure to be maintained in the tube 1. v

The plug 10 is located in the body of liquid contained in the pressure gage and in such position that an increase of pressure which results in the lowering of the liquid will expose the tip of the plug to al gas-to the tube when the gas tension in the ow gas to pass from the tube 1 and bring its tension back tonormal after which the level of the liquid rises and the valve is closed.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination of a vacuum tube, means consisting of the operating portion of a manometer in connection with said tube and means operated thereby for supplying tube falls.

2.'The combination of a vacuum tube, operating devices of a manometer having a gas connection with said tube and means controlled by said devices for admitting gas to the tube from a bod of gas of greater tension than that in sai tube when the tension in the latter falls.

3. The combination of a vacuum tube,

manometric operative devices subject toitheelastic ressure of the gas in the'tube and a gas Va ve controlled by said 0 rativedevices for admitting gas to the tube when the gas tension falls. v

4. The combination of a vacuum tube, means consisting of the operative portion of an aneroid manometer and means actuated thereby for admitting gas to the tube when the gas tension falls. 1

5. The combination of a vacuum tube, a. flexible metal disk exposed to the gas or vapor in said tube and means responsive to movements of the disk for admitting gas to the tube.

6. The combination of a vacuum tube, a I

means, the latter chamber and valve chamber bein of different cross-sectional area as describe to multiply the efi'ect u on the valve of changes of tension in, the tu e.

8. The combination of a vacuum tube, means consisting of the operative portion of a vacuum gage having its gas pressure. space connected to said tube and means controlled bysaid' operative portion for supplying gas to the tube. v

9. The combination of avacuum tube, means consistin of the operative portion of a vacuum gage aving its gas pressure space connected to said tube and means controlled by said operative portion for admitting gas to the tube from a body of gas of greater tension than that of said-tube.

10. The combination of a vacuum tube, a valve for admitting gas to thetube,.m eans consisting of the operative portion of a.

vacuum ga e whose variable pressure space is connecte to the tube, and means for con verting the movements of the operative portion intoa multiplied movement of the valve.

11. The combination of a vacuum tube, and pressure responsive devices operated by changes in the pressureof the gas within the tube for admltting gas thereto when the.

pressure falls.

12. The combination .of a vacuum tube and means controlled by difiere'nces the mechanical efiect of the pressure of gas within the tube for controllingthe admission of described.

gas thereto as and for the purpose 13. The combination of a vacuum. tube,

14. The combination of a gaseous inchand means mechanically actuated by the & ween sure through which an electric discharge ork and State of New York this 5th day of passes, and means mechanically operated by May A. D. 1906. the force of the elastic pressure of the gas Within said tube and controlling the flow of DANIEL MCFARLAN MOORE gas through a passage connected therewith Witnesses: as and for the pur ose described. G. F. TISCHNER, J12,

Signed at New ork in the county of New LILLIAN BLOND. 

